Original subtitles

Presented for the 1967 Arts Festival

Downloaded from YTS.MX

A Daiei Film

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

THE WIFE OF SEISHU HANAOKA

Kae was 8 when she first saw Otsugi.

She was with her nurse Tami

and peeked into the herb garden behind the house.

Look, it's Otsugi.

She's beautiful.

She's not just beautiful.

They say she's clever too.

Everyone speaks well of her.

Otsugi's father, Naomichi, was a poor doctor

and very unkempt in appearance.

He would come down from Hirayama and visit Kae's house.

Her grandfather was a retiree

and enjoyed Naomichi's bragging and tales...

Kae could never believe this man was the husband of the beautiful Otsugi.

Otsugi and you are a real beauty-and-the-beast combination.

You did well marrying her.

I had had my eye on her for ages...

...but she was a carefully protected daughter of a big land owner

who dealt in indigo and dyed cloth.

She was well out of my league.

But then there was a godsent illness.

She was 16 and had a terrible skin condition

which all the doctors tried but failed to cure.

I seized the opportunity and forced my way into the house...

...saying I would try to cure her,

and if I succeeded they should let me marry her.

I used the Dutch medicine I'd studied in Nagasaki

and wangled myself a wife!

You're a cunning devil.

But a doctor's job is to save his patients.

When a patient dies,

I always wonder how I might have saved them...

...my regret is enormous if I lose someone.

Anyway, I thought I could get a beautiful and clever wife

and we'd have a kid who'd be a better doctor than me.

So I worked frantically to cure her.

Fortunately, Unpei is a splendid son.

He's a brilliant doctor, so my plan has borne fruit.

Listening to your bragging really helps me sleep!

When Kae's grandfather died, she saw Otsugi again.

Otsugi next showed up at Kae's house 3 years later in the late spring.

Is Naomichi well?

He's rather down about the death and it's aged him.

So I've come here as his representative.

So formal...

What is it about?

I'd like to humbly ask for Kae's hand in marriage for Shinpei.

This is so unexpected.

Unpei's in Kyoto now, isn't he?

Yes, he left in spring

and he'll be back in 3 years with good training.

It's my duty to find him a wife who can help him make the most of this.

The first thing a doctor's wife needs is good health,

the second one is to be firm.

A farmer's daughter shocked by the sight of pus or blood

is not going to cope with the life of a doctor's wife.

A merchant's daughter will be no good either.

There's no call for toting up accounts on the abacus...

...illness comes without respecting wealth, and patients who can't pay are common.

You are a respected samurai with a large stipend and a long family history -

and Kae would be the perfect wife.

It was unexpected, so I'd like some time to think before I reply.

Perhaps it is presumptuous for a country doctor

to make such a request but...

Please ask if she will marry uneventfully into a big family,

or build a castle by developing a poor family...

Please ask her from me whether she might consider that.

Our social gap is too wide.

Hanaoka's bragging has even infected his wife, it seems!

They say a disease gets worse as it spreads! Otsugi is crazy!

But Kae is 21 now.

None of the proposals to date have been pleasing.

Rather than Kae marrying into a big old family and suffering...

...she would be happier in a smaller family...

That's true, but isn't that Naomichi's idea rather than yours?

For generations our family has intermarried with the great families.

I must carry on the tradition.

If the dowry worries you, we can give her without one!

Why not ask about that?

I know the mother's social class is a problem but...

I talked to her, and although she didn't say it exactly,

I think she wants to go to the Hanaokas.

Does Kae know Unpei?

No. But Kae has always said she admires Otsugi's beauty

and wants to be her daughter!

What's all this?

In what kind of family does a mother come and ask for a daughter-in-law like this?

If Otsugi wants her, Kae will be ecstatic.

If you don't allow it, she will weep all night...

Kae, I want you to tell me how you really feel.

I wish to go to the Hanaoka family.

Produced by MASAICHI NAGATA

Screenplay by KANETO SHINDO

Based on the novel by SACHIKO ARIKICHI

Cinematography by SETSUO KOBAYASHI Lighting by HIROSHI MIMA Sound recording by MASAO OKADO Art Direction by YOSHINOBU NISHIOKA

Editing by KANJI SUGANUMA

Music by HIKARI HAYASHI Costumes by YOSHIO UENO Narrated by HANAKO SUGIMURA

Starring

RAIZO ICHIKAWA as Unpei "Seishu" Hanaoka

AYAKO WAKAO as Kae

HIDEOKO TAKAMINE as Otsugi

YONOSUKE ITO as Nomichi Hanaoka MISAKO WATANABE as Koriku

Directed by YASUZO MASUMURA

In Unpei's absence

I have placed here the guardian deity of this house...

...the great Ming dynasty book of herbs.

My father Unzen Hanaoka copied it and he, and I...

...and my son Unpei have pored over and handled this book.

All the Hanaokas are here apart from two of Unpei's younger brothers.

One is studying to be a Buddhist priest

and the other is in a merchant house learning the trade.

This is Ryoan Shimamura, my apprentice.

Let's begin.

Unpei was born 23 years ago.

Otsugi was sweating and groaning, and the midwife calling for hot water...

...the midday sun suddenly grew dark.

There was a heavy rain, lightning and thunder which shook the ground.

I held Otsugi and kept saying, "you can do it", "you can do it".

In the midst of the storm, it was I who delivered Unpei.

I still remember it clearly, even now.

I remember him wriggling in my arms and the healthy first cry he gave.

Then I noticed the sky had cleared.

A crow was flying high in the sky.

I couldn't help but cry out that here was a genius, a wonder child.

I gave him his name using characters "tremble" and "cloud"

because of the thunder.

In Unpei are combined my father - a great doctor - and I with my tenacity.

This is not just boasting.

This prodigy will bring glory to the house of Hanaoka

and will be the genius of Japanese medicine!

Let us conclude here with this anecdote.

The girls around here make cotton to supplement their dowry money.

But our girls are different.

They do it so that we can send money to Unpei.

I can weave. Please show me what to do.

Don't hurry or the threads will tangle.

The young doctor's wife made this?

The stripes are well-woven.

She wasn't brought up to do it, but does it very well.

We have a good wife for Unpei.

I am satisfied with her.

I will pay the money to Unpei when I return to Kyoto.

Yes, please.

Okatsu, these are the bran bags that Otsugi uses in the bath.

They're full of molasses and bird droppings.

She throws them away after using them just once.

I collect them and use them a couple more times.

Please, let me use them too.

I'd like to be as beautiful as her.

Mother, what illness are these Datura flowers used to treat?

I wonder if I should tell you...

They also call them Korean morning glory and Dr. Hanaoka calls them Manzara.

They're very poisonous and if you eat them,

you become insane and die laughing.

But the leaves smoked with tobacco are good for asthma

and an infusion of leaves is a painkiller on wounds.

First time I came to this house they were blooming and so beautiful.

When was that?

I was 8.

So long ago. Why did you come?

I heard rumors about your beauty and wanted to see you.

You're not my child by birth, but call me mother

and I love you perhaps more than a daughter.

This bond is too deep to be measured.

Three years passed. And then, in the spring...

Such rain.

It's late spring and yet it's like winter.

The whole house smells of mold and even my breath is mold-color.

Elder brother is home.

Welcome home.

Welcome home.

We didn't expect you so soon.

You need to wash your feet. Put hot water in the bucket.

Unpei. This is your wife, Kae.

She's been waiting for you too.

Unpei. I'm so pleased you're back.

We've been waiting.

Welcome home.

You've grown a lot, Ryohei.

It's already done. But thank you.

If you want to be a surgeon,

you have to know about non-surgical medicine too.

As well as learning Dutch surgery,

I have been studying Chinese herbal medicine.

In order to know the body and cure no matter what difficult disease.

Just like Hua Tuo.

Hua Tuo?

The great surgeon who lived 2,000 years ago in China?

You're brave to aspire to be like him.

Hua Tuo opened the skull and removed tumors.

He cut people's chests open and then sewed them up again...

He also made his patients sleep

and it's said he could operate on them without their crying out in pain.

But those stories may not be true.

Those texts are full of exaggerations.

But if it's even half true

and the patients could be operated on while asleep...

...they wouldn't thrash around and even difficult operations would be possible.

I will discover that sleeping medicine and become the Hua Tuo of Japan.

I will cure the incurable.

Well said. Unpei, you're amazing.

I can die happy.

Unpei has always done what he's said he will do.

He will probably succeed in this too.

This is a set of Dutch surgical instruments I had made.

Things have clearly moved on from when I studied Western medicine.

This is cotton wrapping for wounds.

It has more stretch than bleached cloth.

We could weave these.

Make me as many rolls as you can. We are going to need a lot.

Okatsu and Koriku have become really good at weaving.

For three years they've been working hard so that we could send you money.

Thank you. It's really you who bought these instruments for me then.

Kae.

Yes?

Tonight you'll sleep separately.

You must be tired after the trip from Kyoto.

You need a good night's sleep.

Sleep well... but sleep alone!

Unpei, I beg you...

Let the glory of the Hanaoka family bloom.

This evening go to Unpei.

He's waiting for you.

Take your pillow.

Come in.

Quickly now.

Does it hurt when I squeeze your breasts?

Ouch!

Good morning.

Oh, I see you can sew cloth bags.

Until now making the bags has been my job.

I will make my own.

Do you know what these flowers are called?

I may be wrong but I think they are Datura.

You know a lot!

- I shouldn't pick them? - Yes, it's the right time.

Let's try the flowers before the seeds.

Where can we dry them without them getting moldy?

How about hanging them from the kitchen ceiling?

They will dry well there.

That's a good idea.

Please wipe them dry with a dry rag.

I will.

Throw away the rags after you've used them.

OK.

There's poison in the flowers, isn't there?

Yes. It's not as strong as wolfsbane, but it's better to be careful.

OK.

You... those are...

Datura, Unpei told me to dry them.

What a waste! Why are you doing that?

He told me to wipe them carefully.

They're poisonous so wash your hands carefully.

It can be very dangerous if they end up in pots and pans.

Can you help me hang these Datura leaves above the stove and dry them?

I'm home.

Welcome back.

Unpei has been waiting for you.

Yonejiro is here.

They're really cute.

You've brought me a lot of cats!

With these rains there's no rice and people have difficulty finding food.

They were more than happy to give me the cats.

I need cats and dogs in order to help people live.

Get me as many as you can.

Here you go. Feed it and look after it carefully.

I will.

They're dead!

The amount of Datura was too great.

Sis, it's Kae...

Kae, what's the matter?

She's pregnant.

Really? That's brilliant.

It just keeps on raining.

Two years of these prolonged rains have made the price of rice double.

Across the whole country hundreds of thousands of people

are starving to death.

It's terrible.

These rains have rotted the rice and made the rivers flow out of control...

All this has brought all kinds of strange illnesses.

Herbal medicine sellers are doing well though.

I'm selling loads of Ginseng.

But no matter how much money you get, you can't buy human life.

What kinds of illnesses are spreading?

People's bones are rotting and sticking out under the skin all over the body.

If you press, it hurts as if it was rotten inside.

Are these some kind of blisters?

No, this is a kind of bone growth like exostosis.

The bones are rotten and fluid builds up.

It's probably because people's diet has been so limited

because of these long rains.

Can it be cured?

I can cure it.

You put ointment to kill the pain and cut out the rotten bone.

Thank you.

People have heard rumors about Unpei

and are coming from Kawachi and Yamato...

...and even from as far away as Osaka.

Because of the dreadful times hardly anyone can pay us.

But when people are starving to death we are lucky to be able to eat

even millet porridge.

Let's eat!

Mother, please give me the same as everyone else.

Unpei and you are different.

Unpei is the most important person for all of us.

And the next most important person is you.

I understand as a wife that you feel awkward...

The child you're carrying is a Hanaoka and your job is to bear it safely.

The rice and the fish on your tray are to feed the child...

...and all of our prayers are with it.

So eat and don't hold back.

This stage of pregnancy is a time when you'll be hungry and want to eat a lot.

It's Datura.

The leaves you picked for me.

I dissolved the juice in sake and gave it to them

and at first they mostly died.

But now look!

They're sleeping.

If I can operate on them while they're asleep,

I will be able to cut anything out.

Look at this!

It's no good.

It's still not enough.

Kae, the baby is due soon.

I wanted to talk to you about it.

Here it's a custom to give birth at home - your own family home.

Unpei said it would be OK - so you can go home.

But you gave birth here and got Unpei's father to deliver the baby.

Back then...

...there were no women apart from me.

I'd like Unpei too deliver the baby.

You want him to act as a midwife.

If you really don't want to go home, that's fine.

I would like to go home.

You're not looking too worn out.

I am so relieved.

Otsugi is looking after you well.

There's a saying that it's a waste to feed the bride...

...but in these troubled times Otsugi has looked after you well!

We should be grateful.

Yes, indeed. We married her to the right family.

Unpei is talked of as the best doctor in the region.

He has a very good reputation.

I hear he has had lots of apprentices coming to learn from him. It's amazing.

Mum, Otsugi Hanaoka is pretty but it's all on the surface.

Deep down she's cold-hearted and eaten by spite.

They say she's clever but she's cunning and calculating.

Taking me in as Unpei's bride while he was away

was to make me earn money by weaving.

Her sending me home was definitely because she wanted to save food.

It's because I'm pregnant and can't weave any more.

That's just you being bitchy.

If you speak like that about such a wonderful mother-in-law,

heavens will punish you!

You don't understand...

Pull yourself together. You're going to make yourself ill.

Just think about giving birth to a healthy baby.

That's a woman's job.

I will. I'll show her!

Otsugi can do a lot but she can't bear Unpei's child.

Just be a little more patient.

First birth takes half a day of labor.

Be strong.

She's good looking.

How about calling her Koben?

I knew it would be a girl.

Well done, but I'd like a boy next time.

I can't relax until there is a Hanaoka heir.

OK.

Next time.

Look after yourself and recover your strength before you come back.

There are enough women to do all the work.

OK?

Please look after our very important bride.

Four years later the the famines and long rains finished but...

Okatsu, does it hurt?

When I breathe, it throbs.

Since when?

There was a lump around the time of the Doll's Festival.

(This festival is held in early March)

Why didn't you tell me then?

It's breast cancer, isn't it?

There's no cure.

So I said nothing.

What is it, mother?

Nothing. Go in the next room.

Unpei, can you make me one of your painkilling poultices?

They work on cuts but not for breast cancer.

You will have to bear the pain.

Then give me the medicine you tried on cats and dogs.

The one that put them to sleep and they died.

It's a doctor's job to save life.

I can't give you a drug that kills, no matter how great the pain.

Then cut me open and do the surgery. You're good at that.

If I could do that, do you think I'd leave you in pain like this?

Okatsu wants it so much,

won't you put on the poultice just to ease her mind?

Do you want to kill her?

I'm not trying to do that.

If I could trade places with her, I would. I wish I could die instead of her.

There's wolfsbane in those poultices. It's fatal to swallow.

If I apply it to her breast, she will put it in her mouth.

Don't you realize that?

A woman's breasts are her life,

but can't you cut it out of her with your surgical kills?

She has a tumor the size of a fist

and it's spread to her side and shoulder.

If I cut her, it's not just the breast.

And she's weak and can't bear the pain and a loss of blood.

Perhaps if anesthesia were possible...

Anesthesia is possible, isn't it?

Recently, cats and dogs have been sleeping

and they don't move if you poke them with a stick...

...and when they wake up, they can walk and they're fine, aren't they?

The anesthesia is not ready.

I know it's hard for you as her mother,

but I've done everything I can as a doctor.

I know it's 10 or 100 times worse to operate

and it twists my guts with frustration.

This cat fell off the veranda and hit it's head and died.

It fell?

It was staggering and its head was hanging

and it dropped straight down.

Mother, this cat's brain was damaged by the anesthesia.

If I give it to Okatsu, you know what will happen.

Mum, the villagers are saying Okatsu died

because we are cursed because of all the dogs and cats we have killed.

Shut up!

You must never say that again.

If cats and dogs could curse us,

you wouldn't have been born safely!

It's not a curse that missed Kae and hit Okatsu.

Dr. Hanaoka, you'll not be happy to hear this,

but I think it was just her natural time.

Doctors are not like priests and should not believe in alloted lifespans.

Whatever illness people die from, it can be prevented by doctors.

What killed Okatsu was me, me!

She died because my medical skills were not good enough.

7 years passed and things were peaceful.

Okatsu and Koriku are working for Unpei

and have ended up without much chance of marriage.

I thought I mustn't do that with the younger ones

and I got them married off last year.

Ryouhei is in Kyoto studying medicine.

Is that so?

I suppose you must be very lonely.

Yes, but the number of Unpei's apprentices is increasing all the time

and we had to build another house for them all.

Is Unpei's wife well?

Yes, she's a picture of health.

Mother, Father is playing with the cats.

It's quite funny. Look!

Mistress, this cat is brilliant at somersaults.

It slept for 3 days and is exactly as it was before.

There's no damage.

It's been 10 years since you started, but anesthesia is now a reality.

Congratulations!

Think how pleased your father would have been.

We haven't succeeded yet. Cats and people are very different.

The amount I used for this small cat would not be effective on a human.

It's a question of how much to increase the dosage in order

to put a human to sleep safely...

...the difficult bit is yet to come.

I see.

Unpei, I want you to listen carefully,

because I have been thinking about this a lot...

Why are you being so formal?

I want you to use me for the anesthesia experiments.

It's the middle of the night so I was worried. Don't scare me.

If you test anesthesia on a person, you'll be able to perfect it.

Being so close to your goal and not going the last stretch would be idiotic.

I gave birth to you... and I know what you want.

I know that better than anyone else.

It's ridiculous.

I want you to use me for the experiments.

I made up my mind a long time ago.

Will you please use me?

It's out of the question.

If something were to happen to you, I would never be able to face people.

Your life is precious.

You must live and see to it that the family is successful.

The one who wouldn't be able to face people is me - the daughter-in-law.

How could I be happy if I was giving drugs to my beloved mother-in-law?

This is my role.

No.

I have less life ahead of me...

...Unpei has a wonderful wife and I am content and my work is done.

You still have an important role to provide heirs.

Until you have done that, your body is too valuable to mishandle.

People say a wife should go if she can't have a child after 3 years.

All I have given birth to in 15 years is one brainless girl...

Why is my life so precious?

I want him to use me.

Kae, are you defying me? I am your mother-in-law.

Yes, on this occasion...

I cannot allow my elderly mother-in-law to do this. I am the wife!

Kae, are you telling me that I am old and therefore useless?

Stop! Stop this!

Enough talking of "few remaining years" and whether you're afraid to die...

Do you think you'll die if you take my medicine?

I'm not making something that will kill people!

I'm sorry.

If you're so confident why are you hesitating?

Use me!

OK. I will use you both.

I need several human subjects.

You say both of us,

but I spoke first. Start with me.

OK, I will.

But say nothing to my apprentices.

How long will the effects last?

Less than 4 hours.

It's not as bitter as I expected.

It's strong, so please lie down.

There's something I have to say first...

What is it?

When Ryouhei comes back from Kyoto I want you to adopt him as the heir.

My younger brother?

The absence of an heir is troubling me.

So be it. He's studying medicine and he'll make a good heir.

That's a relief.

It's your mother...

Are you in pain?

Mother? Mother!

Unpei?

Does it hurt?

I feel so hot!

That's normal so don't worry.

I'm fine.

It was Kae who decided to call you.

I'll come back later. There are a lot of patients today.

Unpei?

Yes?

Unpei, you're my son.

I am.

Unpei.

I...

It looks like she's fallen asleep.

What are you doing?

This is where the body feels most pain.

If I pinch it slightly and she groans like that the dose is obviously too weak.

It's too weak.

Is she really OK?

She thrashed around so much...

I just gave her a little juice in alcohol so it's like

she's slightly drunk and has fallen asleep.

I see.

Keep it secret though!

How long was I asleep?

Only 4 hours.

I couldn't tell at all.

It's very effective.

Do you feel any pain in your head or in your joints?

No, none at all.

Is your vision OK?

I can see.

There's nothing wrong with me.

The experiment was a great success.

Thanks to you.

Here are some smelling salts.

Kae, you must be relieved to see my condition.

There's absolutely nothing to fear.

But surely you don't need to take the drug now...

I'm very relieved that you're OK.

Mistress Otsugi is amazing.

I take my hat off to her.

Being a mother made her able to take the drug.

Good morning.

Otsugi has broken her promise

and is telling everyone the experiment has been successful.

This will make things difficult for you.

What will you do if a patient asks you for anesthesia when you operate?

You're right.

It will have to be 8 times as much as I gave her in order to be effective.

You can try it on me.

No matter how strong the drug is I'm not scared to take it if it helps you.

Kae, you would really do this for me?

Yes.

You hair is so long.

When will mine get like that?

I'm sorry.

Why are you crying?

I got dirty water in my eyes.

Take a deep breath and drink it.

It makes it easy to swallow in one go.

Do you want some water?

Give her some water, please.

Are you in pain?

Are you hot?

Koben...

Look after Koben.

It's OK. You're not going to die.

But make Koben the heir...

I will.

She's your daughter...

I promise.

I pinched her inside thigh as hard as I could but there's no reaction.

The anesthetic effect is excellent.

You haven't slept for three days.

You're going to get ill.

I'm OK. You go to bed.

The young mistress hasn't woken up for 3 days...

If she doesn't wake up, there'll be scandal.

Kae seems to want to die,

but it's me who'll be in trouble if she does.

I hope more than anyone that she will be OK.

If something happens to the bride I brought here...

I... I could never live with it.

Kae, are you awake?

She'll be OK now.

She'll be able to talk in a couple of hours.

Make her some really delicious rice porridge

and give her three raw egg yolks.

She's not had anything to eat or drink for 3 days.

You haven't had anything either.

Really? OK, I will eat the same then.

Why are you making rice porridge?

Kae is awake.

Unpei is delighted.

He wants to eat with Kae.

He wants to eat with her...

The young mistress has woken up.

The experiment seems to have been successful.

Mistress Otsugi is preparing rice and crying with happiness.

That's great news.

Mistress Otsugi and the young mistress

are wonderful examples of womanhood for a doctor's house.

They risk their lives for the master's success.

That deserves respect.

Did you have dreams?

So no dreams.

Headache?

OK.

How do you feel in general?

Heaviness in the legs? You can't move them, can you?

No, you mustn't lift them.

Any pain in the joints?

Nothing?

Good! That's good!

By the way, who taught you to tie these knots?

My grandmother.

She said it was an important accomplishment for a samurai's daughter.

She said the more you move the tighter they get

and they will not come undone.

I see.

Like this?

I see.

It may look like nothing much but it's a very clever way of tying the knots.

It's great for stopping the bleeding quickly.

As you'd expect of a samurai's daughter. She thought about it carefully.

Yes, she did.

Unpei, Kae has been conscious for two weeks and she's still in bed.

And she's so weakened that we can't say the experiment was a success.

A patient who took that and underwent an operation would probably die.

Is it that she has a particular weakness to datura?

I'm sorry to have caused you so much worry.

I'm tougher - I've had children and never got ill.

Do the experiment again on me.

You're my child and so I really want to be of use to you.

OK. Let's do it.

Kae?

She's coming around.

I've slept for 3 days.

Has it really been 3 days?

I've been awake all the time and I'm so tired that I can't remember.

But don't worry about that. I'll get the smelling salts.

Where's Unpei?

He's just stepped out to an emergency patient.

This time it was a great success, wasn't it?

Unlike you, I have no exhaustion...

...I feel absolutely fine.

For Unpei's sake you should be pleased too.

Yes, he will be delighted.

Koriku, can you give Mistress Otsugi rice porridge and egg yolks?

She'll be really pleased if you do that.

I need to finish the floors before it gets dark.

Before it gets dark???

Kae?

I thought the weather was good but it's getting slightly dark...

It would be a shame if the rain spoiled the starch.

Koben? What's the matter?

Is something wrong with you?

Just two days ill with a cold...

...and then died.

She was lucky not to suffer.

Cry. Cry your heart out.

If you can still cry then you're still happy...

It's when your tears dry up that it gets really lonely.

When Okatsu died I...

...I wanted to die too and go to her.

What is it?

You're taking Datura yourself every night, aren't you?

You noticed?

I'm experimenting on myself to try to get the amount reduced to the right level.

What if something happens to you?

Why won't you let me be the subject of the experiment?

If I give you too strong medication... you won't cope.

No. Please try it on me.

I'm afraid that people are going to die.

I suppose it was just Koben's fate...

...but Okatsu could have been saved if anesthetic had been available.

I want to be used so you can perfect it.

Kae?

Yes?

This last experiment...

Will you do it for me?

I will.

This is a whole bundle of leaves which I have toasted, crushed and dried.

I've made powder so it should be easy to swallow.

You did enough experimenting with me.

Why do you have to do more?

When you let Okatsu die

I said I would do the experiment because I wanted death.

I expect Kae feels the same way now.

Are you conscious?

Yes.

Try to get up by yourself.

OK.

Can you get up?

No, I can't.

What's the matter?

Tell me.

Tell me.

My eyes... hurt.

The pain goes really deep into my head.

Your eyes?

Kae cried so much when Koben died that she probably weakened her eyes.

It's not the medication.

If we cool her with water she'll be fine.

It's not because of crying over Koben.

Kae had pains in her eyes before Koben died.

It's the drug that's made her eyes bad.

Why didn't you tell me?

I couldn't have done the experiment.

Why didn't you say anything?

But it didn't affect me in any way when I had it...

There's no comparison...

I just gave you enough to act as a sleeping draft for 3-4 hours...

Unpei...

She...

You...

Did Kae know about this?

I knew.

You knew... and you lied to me?

You told me I slept for 3 days...

I'm sorry.

Kae... you... I can't believe you did this.

I'm sorry, Kae.

I'm a doctor...

I really should have noticed earlier...

Does it still hurt?

No. At least compared to before.

Is it evening?

Evening?

Why haven't you lit the lamps?

Kae...

Kae...

Unpei...

Please Unpei, do something...

Kae... do you hate me so much?

What is it?

I think I'm pregnant.

I see. I'm convinced it'll be a boy this time.

I'd like to give him my name and call him Unpei.

It's been one year since Otsugi died.

Little Unpei is really like his Grandmother Otsugi.

If so, he'll be handsome.

I'd given up hope of having a boy... and then it just happened.

If Otsugi were still alive, she would be delighted.

Koriku, is something wrong?

Your voice is lower and you're out of breath...

It's strange...

I see... maybe I...

Maybe my hearing is more sensitive because I've lost my eyesight.

Kae...

I've got a lump on my neck.

It's painful.

Your neck you say...

What on earth is it?

Unpei, is it a blood boil?

Hmm... I need to look more carefully.

What is a blood boil?

It's cancer.

It means cancer in the blood vessels.

The same as Okatsu...

I noticed it before but there's nothing I can do.

Could you cut it out?

Using the anesthesia you used on me?

You're a samurai's daughter.

You know how a woman kills herself.

Tell me.

I learned I should put my hand on my throat and find the pulsing part.

I push the knife in there.

Koriku's cancer is in that place. There's no way to operate.

If she's cut there, she'll die.

This is the second sister I have to watch die and do nothing...

Being a doctor is a terrible thing.

I still can't do enough.

I am not Hua Tuo. (A famous Chinese doctor)

Kae, you're crying.

It's strange how my eyes cannot see but they still produce tears.

Why are you crying?

I never got you married and now this illness...

As for not marrying, I am happy. You don't need to console me.

I saw you...

I saw Otsugi and you and I watched both of you carefully.

Your tense relationship...

I'm dying of the same thing as Okatsu...

...and no matter how tough it has been,

it can't be as tough as life has been for you.

Koriku...

Otsugi picked me out and brought me here as a daughter-in-law.

...and Otsugi was beautiful and clever and loved me like her own daughter.

Why did you and Otsugi compete to take that scary drug?

Why did you drink so much that you lost your sight?

It wasn't competitive.

Otsugi and I...

As a mother and a daughter in a doctor's house we just wanted to be useful.

Is that really true?

Yes. That's true.

You think that because it was you who won.

Because I won?..

Kae...

...Don't you think that men are amazing?

Unpei must have noticed the relationship between Otsugi and you...

...but he just watched from the side and got you both to drink the medicine.

The struggles of the women of this house...

... were in the end all just to bring up one man. Don't you think?

A weak man caught up in these battles...

...would wither like a tree which has been watered.

I don't want to be reborn as a girl.

The reason I was so happy despite never marrying...

...was because I was never a bride and never a mother-in-law.

3 Years later on a winter morning...

Kae, I hope you'll be pleased.

Today we have a patient with breast cancer.

But this time we can operate.

It's wonderful...

She's a tough one.

She knows she's going to die so she'd like to have me operate...

The anesthesia will be useful.

Yes, it will.

It's been 15 years since I started thinking about it.

They say a woman's breasts are her life and cutting one off is fatal...

...but I will demonstrate that a life can be saved. I am confident.

I will cure the beriberi and then I can operate.

If you succeed...

...the spirit of Okatsu who died of breast cancer will be pleased.

What is it?

It seems I'm pregnant again.

In spite of being 40 now...

That's a good sign!

One joy on top of another.

Bear me a fine child.

Kae, feel this.

The way of tying the cords you taught me.

I've made that into a family crest.

It's also useful for tying up the sleeves when working.

The world's first breast cancer operation

to be done under general anesthetic took place in October 1805.

Kae, the operation was a great success.

I removed the tumor.

From now I can operate on anything. All kinds of operations are possible.

Now I can do like the famous Chinese doctor Hua Tuo did.

Congratulations.

It's thanks to you.

No, it's thanks to Otsugi.

I wouldn't have been here without her.

This is the new treatment space.

It's double the size it was.

This is the operating room.

This is where we wash the bandages.

The next room is a medicine supply store.

This is where the medicine is made.

This is the dormitory for the apprentices.

There are 50 of them!

I'm going to make a place for you here.

I'd like it the way it has been up to now.

I'd like the back storage room, like your mother.

The people in the village started to tell a new story.

A moving tale about a wife who lost her sight to help her husband.

Kae didn't like it.

She said nothing and hated to go out when there were people around.

THE END